In the US, where penstemons originate, deer forage on them and, as far as I have been able to discover, they are not listed as poisonous in the various indexes of poisonous plants. As an ex-teacher myself, I fully understand Vonmarr's caution. Life could be very unpleasant for any school personnel who could be held to have caused the poisoning of a child, however, many warnings were given to that child.

Thanks for your response, Verdun. It is the kind of garden that makes sime of us feel inadequate, but a great example of what can be done. I have noted your advice about choice of plants. Was your garden 'designed' or did it just develop from year to year?

Its not rage. Huntertony, but simply allowing the grumpy old man or woman in oneself a bit of scope. In fact, I think perhaps we should have a MOB thread (Miserable old sweetheart). There we could whinge to our hearts' content and get it all out of our systems before going back to being nice to our families. (Yes, I know sweetheart does not begin with a b...)

It has been freezing here in Crawley and I dont feel any inclination to go and do anything in the garden but have a quick nosey round... My onions are growing slowly, my beans were eaten alive so dont think there will be any early beans now, but a couple of sweetpeas in pots that got left out are still growing like mad despite the snow and frost (dont understand that), my chives and parsely survived not sure what to do with my clematis tho... I had a new one that was doing well then it developed 3 buds over the winter which didnt flower, should I trim my clematis as they look a bit spindly, I didnt do it earlier because some were flowering until late. My garden was all upside down last year. Tomatoes/pots got blight.. if it wasnt for my courgettes I would have given up.

There are other threads about clematis, summerpots, but can I just say that it does matter when you prune your clematis if you want flowers this year. Clematis fall into three groups that have different pruning requirements. For around a fiver, you could get a booklet about them with pictures of lots of different ones to help identify yours, and also instructions about pruning. The RHS does one. Otherwise, try the British Clematis Society website. Have a great year's gardening!

Seriously, Jon, you are absolutely right that many of the things we whinge about are our own fault and putting a few of these principles into practice would save a lot of trouble. However, whingeing is an enjoyable way to let off steam when we are frustrated, so it is probably ineradicable.

you've had some great advice from knowledgeable gardeners, William. The only thing I'd add is that you need to determine how much sun this enclosed area gets and which parts are sunniest, because this will have an effect on which plants you choose. A sink planted with herbs would thrive best in the sunniest bit. You could soften the look of those walls by fixing trellis, if the landlord will allow. Even left bare, it is an improvement, and apart from providing something for climbers to go up, you could also hang things from it.